Dispensing container

ABSTRACT

The dispensing container has a bottle with at least two compartments for accommodating different fluent components. The compartments are so designed that they dispense their contents at equal flow rates when the bottle it tilted. In addition, security is provided against cross-contamination of the contents of the different compartments when, after a dispensing operation, the bottle is righted again. The bottle is provided with a cap that seals off the outlets from the compartments simultaneously when fitted to the bottle. The cap can be a separate component or it can be provided as a flip-top cap. The bottle is made entirely of plastics material and directional pouring spouts can be provided to ensure that the contents of the compartments leave in well-defined streams during a dispensing operation.

This invention relates to a dispensing container having multiplecompartments.

There are numerous applications in which a multi-compartment containerwould be useful to dispense different components of a mixed productsimultaneously. For instance, German patent document DE 3220693Adiscloses a two-compartment bottle which is designed to dispensedifferent liquid components of a mixed drink in a single pour.

In some cases, it would be desirable with such a multi-compartmentcontainer to prevent any mixing of the components stored in thedifferent compartments until such time as they are actually dispensedinto a receiving vessel. This would be particularly so where thecomponents are intended to react with one another, physically orchemically, to produce a required mixed product. In the case of theGerman specification referred to above, the pouring necks of the twocompartments are separated from one another solely by a common dividingwall and there is a strong possibility of one component contaminatingthe other at the neck during pouring and even thereafter as the bottleis righted again and drops of liquid at the mouth flow back, possiblyinto the wrong compartment.

The present invention provides a dispensing container which includes:

a) a moulded bottle formed in one piece and comprising at least twodistinct compartments for accommodating different fluent materials, eachcompartment having an outlet at an operatively upper end thereof, thecompartments having equal total volumes and also having equalcross-sectional areas at each level of the bottle;

b) a pouring spout communicating with each of the compartment outlets,the pouring spouts being spaced apart from one another with the centresof the pouring spouts lying on an imaginary straight line, each pouringspout being defined by a continuous circumscribing wall which is spacedapart from the circumscribing wall of any other pouring spout not sharedby any other pouring spout; and

c) a single cap dimensioned to fit onto the operatively upper end of thebottle and having sealing means for sealing all the pouring spoutssimultaneously when so fitted; and the design of the spout and bottlebeing such that when the cap is removed and the bottle is tilted awayfrom an upright orientation with the imaginary straight line remaininghorizontal, the contents of the compartments are dispensedsimultaneously at equal flow rates and in distinct streams, from thecompartments, without cross-contamination between adjacent streams, andwhen the bottle is thereafter returned to an upright orientation, fluentmaterial originating from one compartments is prevented from flowingback into any other compartment and cross-contamination of thecompartments is avoided characterised in that the container furtherincludes:

d) an air vent associated with each compartment outlet which is alsosealed by the cap when the cap is fitted onto the operatively upper endof the bottle; and furthermore wherein the provision of an air vent foreach compartment outlet allowing air to enter each compartment as thecontents of the compartments are dispensed, thereby ensuring that thecontents of the compartments are dispensed smoothly in their distinctstreams.

Preferably, the pouring spouts are directional pouring spouts. Thepouring spouts may be provided by a one-piece spout member fitted to theoutlets of the compartments. Alternatively, the pouring spouts areprovided by a member fitted to the operatively upper end of the bottleand the cap is a flip-top cap formed in one piece with the member andjoined to the member at a live hinge. In yet another alternative, thepouring spouts are formed in one piece with the bottle.

The bottle in one embodiment has three compartments each foraccommodating a different fluent material. In this case, the bottle mayhave a central compartment and two outer compartments symmetricallyarranged on opposite sides of the central compartment, the centralcompartment having a generally rectangular cross-sectional shape over atleast a part of the height of the bottle and the two outer compartmentseach having a generally semi-circular cross-sectional shape over thesame part of the height of the bottle.

For added security against cross-contamination, each compartment may bedefined by its own continuous wall which is not shared by the walldefining any other compartment, the walls of adjacent compartments beingconnected integrally to one another by means of joining portions. Thejoining portions of the walls of adjacent compartments can space thosewalls apart from one another to create externally visible, aestheticallypleasing grooves extending for the height of the bottle.

In one embodiment, the cap and bottle have cooperating clip formationswhich engage one another in clipping fashion when the cap is correctlyfitted over the upper end of the bottle. The bottle may have acontinuous external shoulder towards its upper end against which the capbears when clipped to the bottle. The cap may have internally projectingformations which plug the pouring spouts when the cap is clipped to thebottle. The clipping formations of the cap and the bottle are preferablydisengagable from one another to permit removal of the cap from thebottle when an appropriate squeezing action is applied to the cap in adirection transverse to the height of the bottle.

For convenient and accurate dispensing of the contents of thecompartments it is preferred that the bottle have an external shape thatis chosen to facilitate manual gripping by a user in such manner thattilting of the bottle by the user to dispense therefrom will generallybe such as to maintain the imaginary straight line horizontal.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described in more detail, byway of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 shows a front, exploded elevation of a bottle, cap and spoutaccording to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a side, exploded elevation of the bottle, cap and spout ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the bottle with the spout member omitted;

FIG. 4 shows a cross-section at the line 4--4 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of the cap;

FIG. 6 shows a plan view of the cap;

FIG. 7 illustrates the bottle of the first embodiment during pouring;

FIG. 8 illustrates the manner in which the cap seals the bottle of thefirst embodiment;

FIG. 9 shows a cross-sectional view of the upper part of a secondembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 shows a further cross-sectional view of the upper part of thesecond embodiment and

FIG. 11 shows a plan view of the upper part of the second embodimentwith the flip-top cap removed.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 8 of the drawings, there is shown a bottle 10, aspout member 11 and a cap 12. The bottle 10 is made of a thermoplasticsmaterial extrusion blow moulded to the illustrated form. The spoutmember 11 and cap 12 are also made of thermoplastics material, and arein this case injection moulded.

The bottle 10 has a shape which tapers down substantially incross-section in a direction from the bottom 14 to the neck region 16 inthe view of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the bottle also tapers slightlyfrom bottom to top in side view, but not nearly in so pronounced amanner as in the FIG. 1, front view. Rounded corners 18 mark thetransition from the side walls to the bottom wall and a shoulder 20 isprovided towards the neck region 16. The bottom of the bottle isslightly concave as illustrated at 22 in FIG. 2. The bottle has threeseparate compartments for accommodating different fluent components, inthis case, liquid components which are to be mixed to form aneffervescent liquid mouthwash. As will be clear from FIG. 4, the centralcompartment 24 has a generally rectangular shape while the outercompartments 26 have generally semi-circular shapes. The threecompartments in combination give the bottle a generally oval orelliptical cross-sectional shape throughout its height. The compartmentcross-sectional shapes change as the bottle tapers upwardly.

Each compartment has exactly the same volume and the intention is that,when the bottle is held at the correct, FIG. 7 orientation for pouring,the liquid components are dispersed simultaneously at substantially thesame volumetric rate from all three compartments. This ensures that thecontents of the three compartments are consumed at the same rate, withthe result that no one compartment should empty before the others andthat there is no wastage of unconsumed components. Also, after eachdispensing operation, each compartment will have substantially the samelevel as the other compartments.

It will be appreciated that, in order to obtain equal flow rates fromall three compartments simultaneously, the cross-sectional areas of allthree compartments should be the same at each level in the bottle.

The three components accommodated in the three compartments may bedistinguished from one another by having different colours to give anattractive appearance when dispensing takes place.

Each of the three compartments is defined by its own continuous wall,numbered 28 in the case of the central compartment and 30 in the case ofthe outer compartments. The straight, adjacent portions of the walls 28and 30, numbered 28A and 30A, are spaced from one another by small gaps32 and joining portions 34 serve to connect the wall portions 28A and30A together. In the result the bottle 10 has, in the front elevation ofFIG. 1, two deep, aesthetically pleasing grooves 36 running from top tobottom thereof.

To create the grooved appearance of the bottle 10, i.e. to create thegaps 32 between the wall portions 28A and 30A, the blow mould which isused in the blow moulding operation will have slender mould formationson two opposite sides of which the blank is moulded.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, the cap 12 has internal protrusions 38which are positioned to clip over corresponding protrusions 40 providedon the exterior of the bottle 10 when the cap is placed over the neckregion 16 of the bottle. The exterior of the cap is provided withparallel ribs 42 towards the open mouth 44 thereof. When the cap isclipped to the bottle, a user can grip the cap at the ribs 42 and applya squeezing action to deform the cap slightly so that the protrusions 38disengage from the protrusions 40 and permit the cap to be separatedfrom the bottle.

In other embodiments, mould costs may be reduced by omitting the ribs42.

The upper end of the bottle is formed with three outlets 52, one foreach of the compartments. Each outlet communicates with a circular,continuous rim 56 which projects upwardly for a short distance. The rims56 are spaced from and totally independent of one another. The one-piecespout member 11 provides three directional pouring spouts 70 and isfitted frictionally to the rims 56 in the manner seen in FIG. 8. Onepouring spout 70 communicates with each of the outlets 52. It will benoted that each pouring spout 70 is defined by its own separatecircumscribing wall and that these walls are not shared by the otherpouring spouts and are spaced apart from one another.

The term "directional pouring spout" refers to a spout shaped toencourage the formation of a narrow, well-defined stream of liquid whenthe liquid is poured through the spout. As illustrated, the directionalpouring spouts 70 have convergent lips 72, similar to those of a milkjug or the like, for the formation of well-defined streams of pouredliquid as illustrated by FIG. 7. Thus the contents of the threecompartments do not mix with one another as they leave the spouts anddescend under gravity in separate streams.

In practice, in the case of components which are to be mixed to form aliquid mouthwash, the three streams are poured into the cap 12 or a cupin which they mix and from which the user can take a mouthful of theresulting mixture for mouthwashing purposes.

The base portion 48 of the cap carries three rounded sealing formations50 which are spaced apart to fit the three pouring spouts 70. When thecap is clipped to the bottle as described above, the sealing formationsenter and plug the three pouring spouts as illustrated in FIG. 8.

Referring again to FIG. 7, it wil be appreciated that the generallyelliptical nature of the bottle is such as to promote gripping by a userin such a manner that, during subsequent tilting to pour out thecontents of the bottle, an imaginary straight line 60 passing throughthe centres of the pouring spouts 52 remains horizontal. Of course, thisfeature contributes to equal rate pouring from all three compartmentsand renders it unlikely that any one compartment will be exhaustedsubstantially before its neighbours.

It will also be appreciated that the visible, directional nature of thepouring spouts 70 will encourage correct manipulation by the user. Afurther advantage provided by the separate spouts 70 is the fact thatthere is little danger of cross-contamination of the three liquidcomponents when the bottle is righted again after a dispensingoperation. Because the circumscribing walls of the spouts 70 areentirely separate and spaced apart, drops of liquid at the edges of thespouts after pouring will be obliged to return to their own compartmentsrather than running back into the wrong compartment when the bottle isrighted.

This feature is most important in the case of an effervescent mouthwash,since one of the liquid components will be chosen to produce the desiredeffervescence and it would clearly be undesirable to have effervescencetaking place in one or other of the compartments before final mixing inthe cap 12 or cup takes place.

This version of the invention is not limited in any way to the preciseconfiguration described above. For instance, instead of a separate spoutmember 11 as described above, the pouring spouts, directional ifdesired, could be moulded integrally with the bottle 10. In fact, evenif the spout member 11 were to be omitted entirely, it is anticipatedthat the presence of the circular rims 56 alone could prevent undesiredcross-contamination of the contents of the three compartments if thebottle is tilted and righted in the correct manner.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 1 to 9 of the drawings which illustratesecond embodiment of the invention. This embodiment has a bottle 100.Fitted over the neck region 102 of the bottle 100 is a moulded plasticsmember 104 having a side skirt 106 which engages the lower end of theneck region in a snug fit. The skirt 106 is formed with an ellipticaldepression 108 on one side thereof as illustrated. Three directionalpouring spouts 110 are provided at the upper end of the ellipticaldepression. The pouring spouts 110 are defined by a continuous wall 112which extends from a base 114.

Moulded integrally with the member 104 is a cap 116 which is joined tothe junction of the skirt 106 and the base 114 at a live hinge 118. Thecap 116 has a base wall 120 and a depending side skirt 122. The livehinge 118 is of a known type which permits the cap 116 to be pivoted inthe direction indicated by the arrow 124 to an open position, and whichthen maintains the cap in that open position until such time as it isforced gently in the opposite direction to return it to the illustrated,closed position. Thus the cap 116 acts as a captive, flip-top cap. Clipformations can if desired be incorporated on the cap and member 104 toensure that the cap clips home when closed.

Depending from the underside of the base wall 120 of the cap 116 is aseries of six tubular sealing formations 121, only two of which arevisible in the view of FIG. 9.

The base 114 of the member 104 obturates the outlets 126 of the bottle,the outlets 126 are similar to the outlets 52 of the first embodiment.In other words, the base 114 bears upon the upper edges of the rims 128which are provided at the outlets 126. Within the area circumscribed byeach circular rim 128, two circular apertures 130, 132 are formedthrough the base 114. The aperatures 130 are somewhat greater indiameter than the apertures 132. In practice, the apertures 130 willserve as pouring apertures while the apertures 132 will serve as airpassages to avoid "glugging" when the bottle is tilted to dispense itscontents. It will be seen that the apertures 130, 132 lead into thedirectional pouring spouts 110.

The tubular sealing formations 121 are dimensioned to fit into and toplug the apertures 130 and 132 when the cap 116 is in the FIG. 9, closedposition. It will therefore be appreciated that the flip-top cap 116 iscaptive and flip-top in nature.

The elliptical depression 108 in the member 104 facilitates opening ofthe cap 116. In use, the user grasps the bottle 10 and applies histhumbnail, or the end of his thumb, to the edge 134 of the cap 116. Hepresses upwardly on this edge to pivot the cap, about the live hinge118, to the open position, whereafter pouring can take place in the samemanner as is illustrated in FIG. 7.

As thus far described, the embodiment of the invention has no provisionfor a cap into which the contents of the bottle 10 can be poured formixing. It is accordingly also proposed to provide a separate cap 136,illustrated in broken outline in FIG. 9, which has a base 138 and a sideskirt 140 dimensioned to fit frictionally about the side skirt 106 ofthe member 104. When a dispensing and mixing operation is to take place,the user merely pulls the cap 136 off the member 104 prior to flippingthe flip-top cap 116 to the open position in the manner described above.

The principles of the invention extend to dispensing containers ofmulti-compartment type having two or more than three compartments.

We claim:
 1. A dispensing container which includes:a) a moulded bottleformed in one piece and comprising at least two distinct compartmentsfor accommodating different fluent materials, each PG,17 compartmenthaving an outlet at an operatively upper end thereof, the compartmentshaving equal total volumes and also having equal cross-sectional areasat each level of the bottle, the bottle having a cross-section whichtapers in a direction from a bottom portion to a top portion thereof; b)a pouring spout communicating with each of the compartment outlets, thepouring spouts being spaced apart from one another with the centres ofthe pouring spouts lying on an imaginary straight line, each pouringspout being defined by a continuous circumscribing wall which is spacedapart by the circumscribing wall of any other pouring spout not sharedby any other pouring spout; c) a single cap dimensioned to fit onto theoperatively upper end of the bottle and having sealing means for sealingall the pouring spouts simultaneously when so fitted; the design of thespout and bottle being such that when the cap is removed and the bottleis tilted away from an upright orientation with the imaginary straightline remaining horizontal, the contents of the compartments aredispensed simultaneously at equal flow rates and in distinct streams,from the compartments without cross contamination between adjacentstreams, and when the bottle is thereafter returned to an uprightorientation, fluent material originating from one compartment isprevented from flowing back into any other compartment andcross-contamination of the compartments is avoided, and d) an air ventassociated with each compartment which is also sealed by the cap whenthe cap is fitted onto the operatively upper end of the bottle; theprovision of an air vent for each compartment outlet allowing air toenter each compartment as the contents of the compartments aredispensed, thereby ensuring that the contents of the compartments aredispensed smoothly in their distinct streams, the cap and bottle havingcooperating clip formations which engage one another in clipping fashionwhen the cap is correctly fitted onto the upper end of the bottle.
 2. Adispensing container according to claim 1 wherein the pouring spouts aredirectional pouring spouts.
 3. A dispensing container according to claim1 or claim 2 wherein the pouring spouts are provided by a one-piecespout member fitted to the outlets of the compartments.
 4. A dispensingcontainer according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the pouring spouts areprovided by a member fitted to the operatively upper end of the bottle,and wherein the cap is is a flip-top cap formed in one piece with themember and joined to the member at a live hinge.
 5. A dispensingcontainer according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the cap carriesinternally projecting formations which plug the pouring spouts when thecap is correctly fitted to the bottle.
 6. A dispensing containeraccording to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the bottle has an external shapethat is chosen to facilitate manual gripping by a user in such mannerthat tilting of the bottle by the user to dispense therefrom willgenerally be such as to maintain the imaginary straight line horizontal.7. A dispensing container according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein thecompartments accommodate components of a liquid mouthwash.
 8. Adispensing container according to claim 1, wherein the bottle has threecompartments each for accommodating a different fluent material.
 9. Adispensing container according to claim 8 wherein the bottle has acentral compartment and two outer compartments symmetrically arranged onopposite sides of the central compartment, the central compartmenthaving a generally rectangular cross-sectional shape over at least apart of the height of the bottle and the two outer compartments eachhaving a generally semi-circular cross-sectional shape over the samepart of the height of the bottle.
 10. A dispensing container accordingto claim 1 wherein each compartment is defined by its own continuouswall which is not shared by the wall defining any other compartment, thewalls of adjacent compartments being connected integrally to one anotherby means of joining portions.
 11. A dispensing container according toclaim 10 wherein the joining portions of the walls of adjacentcompartments space those walls apart from one another to createexternally visible grooves extending for the height of the bottle.
 12. Adispensing container according to claim 1 wherein the bottle is ofblow-moulded construction.
 13. A dispensing container according to claim1 wherein the bottle has a continuous external shoulder towards itsupper end against which the cap bears when clipped to the bottle.
 14. Adispensing container according to claim 1 wherein the clippingformations of the cap and the bottle are disengagable from one anotherto permit removal of the cap from the bottle when an appropriatesqueezing action is applied to the cap in a direction transverse to theheight of the bottle.